Brown says Bucs ignored his injury

Antonio Brown says he was forced to play injured by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that an MRI on Monday revealed damage to his ankle.

While not specifying which ankle was hurt, Brown — through a statement released by his attorney — said the MRI showed broken bone fragments, a ligament tear and cartilage loss “which are beyond painful.”

Bucs coach Bruce Arians said Monday that Brown did not claim he was injured when he refused to re-enter Sunday’s game at the New York Jets.

Cowboys’ Parsons enters protocols

The Dallas Cowboys could possibly lose one of their young stars for the regular-season finale at Philadelphia on Saturday after it was announced linebacker Micah Parsons was placed on the reserve/ COVID-19 list.

Parsons has to quarantine for five days before getting cleared to play under the new COVID-19 protocols agreed to by the NFL and the player’s union.

Odds and ends

The Bengals won’t play QB Joe Burrow in the regular-season finale against Cleveland to make sure he is healthy for the first round of the playoffs. Bengals RB Joe Mixon also will not play after being added to the COVID-19 reserve list. ... The NFL reportedly has contacted AT&T Stadium in Arlington about serving as a potential backup site to host the Super Bowl if it cannot be held at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles due to virus restrictions. … The NFL has issued a warning to teams that they could lose a draft pick between the first and fourth round and face significant fines — a minium of $150,000 — if franchise representatives conduct themselves unprofessionally in interviews with player prospects. … RB Cam Akers is expected to make his season debut for the Rams in their regular-season finale. … QB Kirk Cousins has cleared protocols and will start the Vikings’ finale.